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Photos of World champion Jordan Burroughs from 2013 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary by Tony Rotundo/Wrestlers Are Warriors

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 9) – London 2012 gold medalist and defending world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) won his second world title in Budapest and completed an uninterrupted run on top of the 2013 FILA World Rankings for men’s freestyle.

BURROUGHS, wrestling at 74kg, became the only wrestler in the men’s events – freestyle and Greco-Roman – to start out on top of the rankings in May, spend all summer in the lead, and then finish at No.1 in the year-end rankings.

Four other wrestlers also had the chance to complete a perfect run at No.1, but stumbled in Budapest. Most notably, world and Olympic champion Roman VLASOV (RUS) – BURROUGH’s counterpart at 74kg in Greco-Roman -- was edged in the final by London 2012 gold medalist at 66kg KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR).

Others who came up short in Budapest were Dato MARSAGASHVILI (GEO) at freestyle 84kg, and heavyweights Riza KAYAALP (TUR), the defending world champion in Greco-Roman, and European freestyle champion Taha AKGUL (TUR).

For the year-end rankings, the six wrestlers in the gold- and bronze-medal finals were ranked according to their results on the mats in Budapest. The rankings from No.7 to No.15 were determined by a combination of factors, including results from other competitions in 2013.

Four of the world champions in men’s freestyle – BURROUGHS, David SAFARYAN (ARM), Bekhan GOYGEREEV (RUS) and Khadshimourad GATSALOV (RUS) were all ranked in the top three going into Budapest and had only a short climb to the top of the rankings.

Iran’s two world champions, Hassan RAHIMI (IRI) and Reza YAZDANI (IRI), both arrived at the Papp Laszlo Arena unranked but left with the championship belts and the No.1 ranking at their respective weights.

Three of the seven top-ranked wrestlers in September left Budapest with one gold medal (BURROUGHS) and two bronze medals, Magomed KURBANALIEV (RUS) at 66kg and Taha AKGUL (TUR) at 120kg.

Abdusalam GADISOV (RUS), top-ranked at 96kg, did not wrestle in Budapest, but Russia’s entry in the world championships, Anzor BOLTUKAEV (RUS), grabbed a bronze medal.

The rankings are listed by the wrestler’s name, country code, most recent or most significant result of the year, and the wrestler’s ranking in September.

55kg – Hassan RAHIMI (IRI) won the battle of former and reigning Asia champions for the world title and vaulted from unranked to the top of the list at 55kg, while early rankings leader Amit KUMAR (IND) reclaimed some ground for No.2.

Also in Budapest, top-ranked Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (GEO) dropped a 19-15 free-for-all to second-ranked Nariman ISRAPILOV (RUS) in the quarterfinals and slumped to No.7 in the rankings while ISRAPILOV went on to claim a bronze medal and the No.3 ranking.

60kg – Bekhan GOYGEREEV (RUS) notched five wins by technical superiority and the capped his dash to the world title by pinning European silver medalist Vladimir DUBOV (BUL) in the championship final.

GOYGEREEV began his meteoric rise in the rankings by winning the Russian national title in June, adding the University Games crown in July and then securing the No.1 ranking with the world championship crown.

London 2012 silver medalist Vladimir KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) came to Budapest with the No.1 ranking, but lost in the quarterfinals and tumbled to ninth in the rankings. Second-ranked Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR) lost to GOYGEREEV in the round of 16, but battled back for seventh place overall and a No.7 final ranking.

66kg – European champion David SAFARYAN (ARM), who was the rankings leader in the spring, regained the top spot for the year-end edition with a 2-2 win over London 2012 bronze medalist Livan LOPEZ AZCUY (CUB) in the world championship final.

Top-ranked Magomed KUBANALIEV (RUS), who defeated SAFARYAN for the Universiade crown in July, rebounded for a bronze medal and the No.3 ranking after losing to SAFARYAN in the quarterfinals.

Defending world champion Mehdi TAGHAVI KERMANI (IRI) opened with a win over Brent METCALF (USA), but fell in the round of 16 to European bronze medal winner Alexander KONTOEV (BLR) and tumbled all the way to 21st place and No.14 in the rankings.

74kg – World and Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) outscored five opponents 34-3 to successfully defend his world championships crown and finish the rankings where he had been all year – at No.1.

Two-time world champion and London 2012 bronze medalist Denis TSARGUSH (RUS) won the University Games crown in July and is ranked at No.7 even though did not wrestle in the world championships. Russian entry Kakhaber KHUBEZHTY (RUS) lost his opening bout in Budepest and was eliminated when Narasingh Pancham YADAV (IND) lost in the round of 16 to BURROUGHS.

84 Kg – Ibragim ALDATOV (UKR) won his second title and fifth world championships medal overall, rolling over 2010 bronze medalist Reineris SALAS PEREZ (CUB) by technical fall in Budapest.

ALDATOV, who was third at the Ukraine International in February and the European championships in March, was fourth in the rankings throughout most of the summer but, with the title, finishes 2013 with the No.1 spot.

European champion Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO), who had topped the rankings all summer, was pinned in the round of 16 by Olympic bronze medalist Ehsan LASHGARI (IRI) and slipped to No. 7 in the rankings.

96Kg – Defending world champion Reza YAZDANI (IRI), inactive internationally since injuring a knee at the London 2012 Olympic Games, returned the mat to successfully defend his world title and break into the rankings at No.1.

YAZDANI defeated then second-ranked Pavlo OLEYNIK (UKR) by technical fall in the semifinals and then stopped 2010 world champion and London 2012 bronze medalist Khetag GAZUMOV (AZE),

Former No.1 Abdusalam GADISOV (RUS) with a win at the University Games comes in at No.7 in the year-end rankings. GADISOV was edged out of a Russian world team berth, 1-1 on criteria, in Russian national final to eventual world bronze medalist Anzor BOLTUKAEV (RUS).

120Kg – Former world champion and Athens 2004 Olympic Games gold medalist at 96kg, Khadshimourad GATSALOV (RUS) moved up a weight category to claim his fifth world championship title overall and his first No.1 in the FILA rankings.

European runner-up Alen ZASEEV (UKR) defeated formerly top-ranked Taha AKGUL (TUR) by technical fall in the round of 16 and went on to earn his fourth silver medal of the year and the No.2 ranking.

London 2012 Olympian Aleksander KHOTSIANIVSKI (UKR), the runner-up to AKGUL at the University Games, won the Golden Grand Prix Final in Baku in November to land on the No.7 rung of the year-end rankings.

William May conducts the World Rankings for FILA. He has been active in wrestling across three continents for more than 40 years as a competitor, coach, referee and journalist. William worked as the "Sports Information Specialist" for wrestling at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games. He can be reached on his Facebook page or by email,wmay52@hotmail.com.

About FILA

FILA, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, is the global governing body of the sport of wrestling. It works to promote the sport and facilitate the activities of its 177 national federations from around the world. It is based in Corsier-Sur-Vevey, Switzerland.